I like the saying “Be Real” but it’s not always what it’s cracked up to be! Is it? If you are real with the wrong people, watch out! And you don’t always know who you can be real with, and who you cannot be real with. And by the way WHAT IS REAL? 😮😃

Say, now that’s a good question (isn’t it?) What is real to you? What is real to you, may not be real to me! What is real to me, may not be real to you! God is real to me.

Not because of someone telling me about him, because I’ve experienced him! How do I know that? Because too many things happened in answer to prayer that could not be explained any other way. The odds were “Against’ me” so many times (and I prayed) and God took care of me, provided, and it couldn’t be “Just luck” because nobody is that lucky! Did things go my way?

NOPE! Did I always like my situation (no, again) were things just hunky dory all the time? NO!! Here’s the thing, I asked him to provide he does. Now sometimes he gave me what I wanted, and sometimes he didn’t. sometimes I had to eat beans when I wanted some macaroni. other times i had to wear clothes i did not pick for myself. (but, beggars can’t be choosers!)

It’s hard to explain to people there is a time to be content, a time to pray for wisdom, a time to believe for God’s BEST and a time to let it all go and pray for someone else instead. There is a time to love your enemy and a time to be silent or let them go. There is a time to “overcome evil with good” and a time to “resist the devil” (even if it’s in a person) and he has to flee.

There are times for this and times for that. Times to be sad and grieve, times to say wow I’m really frustrated and have your friend just hug you.

it’s called WALKING by The Spirit! the disciples followed Jesus so do we! we get up and say “Holy Spirit “LEAD ON” and he does! (Lead us, I mean). How do you explain that to anyone? WE just KNOW it’s him because “things work out” and we don’t know how! (as we are not in charge here, GOD IS) WHy? Because we GAVE HIM THE REIGNS! I”ve seen lots of people say they gave God the reigns but they didn’t. I have said I did and didn’t! when you do you KNOW because stuff starts to happen that could only be God!! so GIVE HIM THE REIGNS on that thing you can’t fix, change or do anything about! He can keep you! He can help you! don’t try to control everything! Let it go and go do something else! YOU gave it to him. Trust me he never forgets a thing (I’ve seen this time and time again!)

PS “Give God the Reigns” on how real you should be too. Not everyone can handle it. 😉

I think there are a lot of Christians out there, like me, who truly do not know how to guard their heart. First and fore most we must give more weight to the voice of the Shepherd than anyone else.

We don’t need pretty lies of exaggerating how wonderful we are, and we don’t need Input from amateur counselors or the peanut factories. We certainly don’t need help allowing unbelief!

Because we are “word of God” people, we think if we can’t rebuke it, cast it out or get it gone via spiritual warfare, we are failing somehow. Not true.

Some people just ‘are what they are” and we must learn how to deal with it!

Step number one we need to keep learning and meditating on who we are to Jesus. that knowledge must become so real to us, nobody can talk us out of it. If the voice of someone else’s opinion of us screams louder than what God says, we must reinforce what he says about us until it’s more real than anything else.

In keeping with that train of thought, the accuser of the brethren (the devil) is always going to try to remind you of your past. That’s his job. He is evil. He isn’t going to stop so you must learn to overcome him with YOUR TESTIMONY. You speak it to him: “I am saved, God’s child, I’ve been forgiven of that” and if the person who is allowing the enemy to “USE THEM” to accuse you keeps it up, start to ignore it. It’s the best defense you have. IGNORE IT. You can’t argue with demons.

You can’t cast them out of someone who wants to stay that way. No, they may not be demon-possessed- they just listen to his lies and it’s become a part of them, like WEEDS. You cannot go into someone else’s garden and start yanking weeds out. You are trespassing! You are going to have to ignore it and tend to your own garden. Not what you want to hear, but true. Change the subject, dodge the questions, or say “I don’t want to talk about that right now.”

Do not ask for counsel from those who have no clue what you are talking about, or what you have been through. I don’t care what their credentials are or how much they “seem” to care. Ask God who you should talk to about something. SEEK HIM FIRST! He is your Shepherd, your counselor and your friend, and he is always listening.

You live in the world, so best to get started learning how to cope with things. Go to a rest room or go outside and pray. I’ve done this over the years, went to my car. Prayed, or even went to a restroom, prayed in whispers asking God for help, wisdom and guidance. I assume everything I go through he is RIGHT THERE WITH ME because he said he would be.

Family can be the hardest, because they knew you before you knew Jesus. Family has expectations that often feel like obligations. If we are a good sister, daughter, mom or son we will do this or that supposedly. Jesus told his own mom he was going about the Father’s business, but another time he did change water to wine because she asked him to do something about the situation. There are no pat answers, we must learn to say; “I am praying” I am “seeking God” and let everyone know (including your family) you are on a mission to do God’s will. We are not born “being like Jesus’ It’s something we are walking out.

Whatever weapons you know of right now (with God) use them, he will add to your skills as you use what he gave you. I started out a Lutheran Just ‘praying the Lord’s prayer” and now I know all kinds of spiritual warfare tactics. God is not in a hurry. You are in a school called life and he is willing to walk with you as your Father and help you to grow.

Learn from your experiences, write them down. Use a Journal use the computer and ask God to teach you in EACH situation how to handle it better next time. I have noticed things I run from I will usually face again, so best to learn to overcome it.

Give that other person the benefit of the doubt, whenever you can. Did they mean to hurt you or were they hurting themselves, distracted, or just clueless? We need to ask God “Why is this happening? Or “what do you want me to learn from this?”

There are some people who are just plain bullies, but what about the mandate to love them?Do we keep taking the hurt?

If I tell someone something wounds my soul and they keep doing it anyway, I am probably going to pull away from that person. When you go, say a prayer and give it to Jesus. Be willing to be reconciled later, if that’s what he wants you to do.

WHEN we guard our heart it’s not just against people. WE protect our heart from becoming bitter, angry, full of self-pity, and a host of other things the devil sends at us. There is no end to the things he will try, to destroy our very hearts. Do you know why?

BECAUSE my friends, that’s where the word of God gets planted and takes root. It’s where he speaks to us. It’s where rivers of life flow out of us!

Satan would rather take you out than take out a church building. If he can take you out, he has stopped the flow of God’s spirit to hundreds, or perhaps thousands of people due to the ripple effect. (you touch a life, they touch a life, and so on and so on and so on). Some people gaurd a church building more zealously than they protect their own hearts from the evil one. It’s a full time job!

I am an evangelist, and I live in a really small town. On top of that I have this pastor type heart along with it. God gave it to me. I can’t do anything about it, It’s just there. Oh, and I also play guitar, and sing in my local church.

God decides what the gifts are (in a person) we don’t decide for ourselves.

I live in a small town, sort of in the middle of “nowhere” and most people I know here, already go to church. So who will I Evangelize? The cows? Horses?

You may wonder how I know this about myself. I will tell you. Years ago after a hair raising experience for months with a person next door to me (she was super mean) the body of Elders at my church layed hands on me and with the power of God all over me I heard “LORD, Make her a soul winner!” and since that day I’m not afraid to witness.

Anywhere, Anytime. I will pray with anyone “ask them” if they know the Lord. If a soldier in Christ is falling apart- I have faith to pray they will be renewed, restored, or even be brought back to life again. God put this in me, and I have cherished and kept it and fed it and watered it.

I’ve been hesitant to say “what I am” because honestly, who cares about titles?

Lately I’ve found myself just suffering with the daily grind of working, chores, dishes, cooking, errands and my heart longs to get out there and Meet people, pray with them, see what God wants to do next. I want to walk in the Spirit (of God) RUN in the Spirit and flow in him! There is always work to be done, and it seems to never end. Just……..I have this blazing passion to do more than just “tend to the house”

See, I know we have to be a good steward of what we have. I don’t believe in hounding people for money so I can do God’s work. So we are taking vacation and we are going to Go…….See what God has for us to do. We’re going to pray and watch for opportunities to touch someone for Jesus………

Today I am asking myself not “what can you do for me Father?” But “what can I do for you today?” What would you like? Who do you want to reach today? What hearts to you want to touch? How would you like me to pray?

I would love it if you would please Join me in prayer as we travel The 9th to the 15th of July and believe WITH US For miracles for every day people we find along the way ….

Jesus lives in me! And HE wants to flow through me! And HE wants to touch people every where I go! Will you pray with me? I’m believing for great things this week.

I want to Make a Difference Father

WITH YOU I can! I really can! send me to whom you want me to pray with speak to, give them a hug….encouragement…..whatever you want

Here is what I will tell you for today: Always Walk by the Spirit beware of doctrines of men. Let the Holy Spirit Guide you in all things.

Don’t allow the enemy to get you to put God in a box In other words “Limit him” on what he can or can’t do.

John 21:25 “There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books” (MSG)

The bible says if all the miracles Jesus did were written down- there would not be enough books to contain it all.

When we limit God and make him smaller than he is in our own mind because of our own understanding of scripture (OR someone else’s we have learned) We do limit the miracles he can do in our life. We really cannot get around words such as “let it be done to you” according to your Faith.

It’s sad when the doctrines of men limit God- and then cause disasters that God gets the blame for.

Remember sometimes jealousy can be a motivating factor in how we get advised (by others) and they are often not even aware of this. A sort of “you can’t have what I didn’t have” mentality.

xIt just happens I’m in bible college, and a class I’m in right now is called apologetics. It’s a funny name for it, since I make no apologies about what I believe, or why.

This class helps us think about our Biblical worldview, what others believe, and challenges us to dig deep and see for ourselves why we believe what we do.

Everything I am about to tell you is based on scripture. If you have a question about that let me know, I will provide all the passages. What I can tell you is I am a witness just like the disciples who followed Jesus.

As a child I attended church. I heard all my life “Jesus is real.” When I was in high school I was a big time humanist. I was horrified at the world, the bullies, the mean people, the selfish people. I was a liberal, and very much a women’s libber, as well.

I was mad at God, and mad about injustice, which he seemed to do nothing about. I was apalled at conserative stances, and how christians could talk about love one minute, and throw people under the bus if they got food stamps, calling them “those who suck off the system” and take their tax dollars. For me that was the ultimate hypocrisy, to preach love one minute and be a “hater” the next toward those who were not so fortunate.

I married badly partly out of pride. I was going to show those conservatives what was what. “HERE I”LL SHOW YOU HOW to love” I thought (since they were so bad at it and all). it didn’t take long to figure out I got myself in a real pickle of suds (and problems). Totally broken. Defeated. In the dark. It was a blessing in disguise.

It wasn’t long before I found myself in a pile of failure. Baptists knocked on my door one day, asking if I was born again. “I’m a Lutheran” I said, and went to work and laughed at them for being so crazy. Later I was crying, upset, and a Billy Graham message captivated me. I HAD experiences with the presence of God (the Holy Spirit) prior to this.

When I ran away in high school in defiance, My mom prayed, cried and gave me to God. She said she didn’t know what to do with me. WHEN I was watching Billy Graham I truly realized my sin. Pride. Anger. Unforgiveness. Defiance toward God and others. Judging.

The Holy Spirit (Via Billy Graham and those that knocked on my door) caused me to see I had believed in Jesus but had not RECEIVED him as saviour and Lord. I saw he was the only way to Salvation. I saw I was a sinner, in need of help. I stopped saying in my heart “Well I’m not THAT bad of a person” and accepted him, gave him my life. I asked him to take over…………

After that, things changed for me. I went on a journey (30 years ago) It hasn’t ended yet. A journey of learning, (from the Holy Spirit) who IS my teacher. I’ve seen so many miracles I’ve lost track. I’ve seen God honor his word and provide for me.

God is holy. I know this. He wants us to be Holy. Why? Because if we are becoming holy (more like him) We are deeper in covenant with him. ALL we have is His, and all he has is ours. I’m not a liberal anynore, and I am not judging God for letting the world go to “hell in a handbasket” as they say. He gives us a choice. Me, You, everyone…..”choose this day” who you will believe in. God does not share his glory with any (other god) and he is not a humanist. He put us in the world, he can take us out if he wants to. He made us, created us TO BE HIS SONS (and daughters)

IF we rebel like satan we are satans’s kids -not his. When I was in defiance, if I had died, I would have gone to hell, and I know that. Yep they were furious when Jesus said “your Father is the devil” (wanted to kill him, and did!!) I undestand now, to be a humanist is to defy God’s discipline, holiness, and who He really is.

“HOW Dare you!” Their flesh said (to Jesus) How dare you not make us feel GOOD about how we are (in our sinful condition) How dare you convict us? Jesus was crucified because people were appalled he dared to say he was the only way. They wanted his miracles, but not his conviction. The Pharisees didn’t want either because they were already rich (and powerful.) They thought they knew God but they only knew his laws, and not his heart. They were full of pride.

Well, the road or door to Salvation is to admit we are wrong, and God is right. There is no other way, and there is no other name by which Men are saved.

JESUS ….the name above all names. Jesus………He’s proven himself to me, time and time again. I didn’t take “Someone else’s word for it” I just heard the preacher and said Okay “make yourself real to me Lord.”

He will rule and reign. Don’t believe me? Ask him! I dare you.

with love, Laura Grace Author, Grace to the Rescue

PS: Yes, I am born again. Filled with the Spirit. and in love with Jesus Christ

I want you to think with me a moment, about the early disciples. You know, the ones Jesus called, to follow him around for awhile? “Come, follow me” He said. They did, and he spoke many things to them.

These words were planted in their hearts (as he spoke to them) and they received it, as the good seed that it was. Except Judas. He did not receive.

Then, the incorruptible seed and words of Life Jesus spoke (to them) Went into the soil of their hearts, sprang up, and the Holy Spirit had something to work with! The Holy Spirit is our teacher (this is for Christians to learn.)

I want you to think about Jesus’ example for a moment. When someone called him good, he said nobody is Good but God the Father. When they called him teacher he said, “don’t call me that.” He was setting an example for the disciples. And us.

He didn’t want them to think they were too important to wash someone’s dirty feet, scrub a dirty floor, or prepare a meal like the one he made them after his resurrection.

These men, who wrote these glorious words which, the Holy Spirit preserved for us, to the point where billions of copies have sold, all over the world, were just men. They were not super heroes, not magic genies, and certainly not anyone the world would have made into idols. Fishermen, a tax collector, a former killer of Christians, and so on, and so forth, and so on. The books Paul, John, Peter, James, and others wrote, are now called Epistles. Letters to the church. Let me repeat that, Letters to the church!

Not letters to the unsaved! Not letters to the unbelievers.Letters to the Church.

Please do not expect the world to see what we are saying. They won’t. They are not supposed to! Not Until God opens their eyes to see, as they receive him.

And for what reason? Because we have more to learn, than just one scripture. They hung out with Jesus for years!

They went with him, did what he did, followed his example, were eager to learn. And what happened? They taught, they did miracles, and they wrote. Where were their church services held? In the streets, in the houses, wherever they went. I know I’m a disciple! I have no doubt in my mind! I have been following after the Holy Spirit for years now, and I wrote! And whenever I can I give my books away (for free).

If you ever want one or need one let me know, I will find a way. For you see, those words are my living Epistles, revelations, of what God has etched into my heart, and what he has spoken to me, to share with his people, the church.

Lots to think about, isn’t it? with Love (and blessings to you and yours) Laura Grace

My books are available on Amazon Grace to the Rescue, Grace to Grow Grace to Grow Study Guide, Grace to Soar, Covenant Promises, Let there be Light, and others……

Through.In. If we have faith (but not love) we are like clashing cymbals! What does that mean? Usually when people hear cymbals clashing, which are not lightly used in harmony with the other instruments, people plug their ears! Do they not?

God doesn’t want us plugging our ears. He isn’t going to say to a cymbal banger or a loud noisy gong “Yep you keep on going honey, if they don’t like it, they can lump it!” No!!

So what is my point? There are so many scriptures, hidden within, (like in cake mix) to this little message, it’s hard for me to break it down. I could! But deep down in your heart you know if what I am saying is right. This gathering with believers thing (church) was meant to be a blessing! If you are going to church and it’s helping you love AND walk in Faith, so much the better! If you are not being treated very nice, and you feel like you are getting further from God (and not closer) Maybe it’s time to find another church!

While you are looking, walk with Jesus awhile. Invite him to guide you! He will, you know. Why? He loves you! Sometimes our faith has to work through HIS love for us, until we learn how to let faith and love work through us. See? So that’s why sometimes things change (we are growing!) Once upon a time we just prayed and his faith (or his love) were there for us, and he answered. But now he says; “You have Faith.”

See, anytime we get stuck on “how we used to do things” we get stuck. If I was in class and a 6th grader told me “Well, we used to have nap time, and ABC’s.” I’d say, “Yes that was then, this is now!” That is what God meant by “some of you ought to be teachers by now” but you need milk, not solid food!” Why? Well maybe the milk was sitting there (year after year) but they never drank it in (to their spirit!) So, I can put a glass of milk in front of a child, day after day year after year, if he never drinks it, does it benefit him?

Of course not! Love keeps putting the glass there. That’s what God does for us!

Love for ourselves makes us finally pick it up, quit saying we don’t like milk, and drink it in! That’s how it is with things of the Spirit! We eat the word of God (like food) we drink it (like milk or water) and we don’t sit around talking about how good milk is or how good food is without eating it ourselves! Many Christians are on a potato chip and milkshake diet…….or, they talk about things they have never partaken of……

Picking and choosing! We can do this, but we will not grow up to be strong that way! Well this message contains both Faith and Love! Father I trust you to bless every person reading this! Help them to see, that we do need to “Drink in” Your Words and “eat” the food you have put before us, every day. Help us to believe by faith, it makes us stronger, and nourishes our soul! Father that we don’t need to argue about beliefs, we just need to see ‘your word is good’ and eat it, and partake of it together!” In Jesus’ name “remove the “Strife, and the yeast of the Pharisee” IN Jesus’ name we pray, amen